Saks Fifth Avenue, Microsoft Team Up on Holiday Windows

Video displays powered by Windows 7 light up iconic stores display windows. http://journaldesvitrines.com

In New York City, it wouldnt be the holidays without the annual department store window displays. Among the most famous are the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue, a holiday tradition since 1949.

A passerby snaps a photo of the Saks Fifth Avenue front holiday windows at the unveiling. Windows 7 helps to power the displays, which feature animated, 3-D scenes from the book "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Flake." The story is told through 20 synced video monitors.

Saks Fifth Avenue Chairman and CEO Steve Sadove lights up the Windows 7-powered holiday window displays with Kathleen Hall, general manager of Windows 7 marketing at Microsoft Corp., on Nov. 23 at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in New York City.

Windows 7 powers the Saks Fifth Avenue NYC front holiday windows, unveiled during the sixth annual Saks Fifth Avenue Snowflake Spectacular.

Along with Windows 7 technology in the Saks Fifth Avenue NYC front holiday windows, the 50th Street windows also feature Windows 7-powered monitors with a live Twitter feed. People can share their holiday wishes via the Twitter hashtag #holidaywindows.

A close-up look at one of the front holiday windows of Saks Fifth Avenue featuring a mechanical display (top), and Windows 7-powered monitor (bottom) illustrating the story of Twinkle.

For 2009 the Saks windows get a technology assist from Microsoft and Windows 7. This years windows will feature scenes from Saks holiday childrens book, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Flake the story of a snowflake named Twinkle. More than 20 video monitors provided by Microsoft and powered by Windows 7 will help animate some of the books key scenes. The windows will also feature ice-skating penguins and a voiceover of the book that is audible to passersby. In addition, holiday shoppers can tweet their holiday wishes using #holidaywindows and have them appear in the Saks windows, making the windows interactive.

Special events at the Saks Fifth Avenue window unveiling, which took place Nov. 23, included an appearance by Broadway singing star Kristin Chenoweth, currently appearing in the Off Broadway production Love, Loss and What I Wore. Steve Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue, and Kathleen Hall, general manager of Windows 7 marketing at Microsoft Corp., also participated.

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